These letters are so large and prominent that they are easily seen from both sides of the border between El Paso, TX, USA and Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Translated, the letters read City of Juarez, The Bible is the Truth, You read it"
We did fnd a newspaper article about the letters in the Lubbock TX paper (of all places): (
visit link)
"Message on mountain urges study of Bible
Published: Monday, July 05, 1999
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Online
The Bible is the truth. Read it.
So huge are the scraggly, capital letters that they not only can be seen from several points in this border city of 1 million, but from many spots across the Rio Grande in El Paso.
Drivers traversing the southern United States on Interstate 10 have no problem making out the Spanish words, painted on a mountainside overlooking El Paso's sister city. The letters some as tall as a 13-story building are so big, in fact, that they can be seen in postcards of El Paso's skyline.
Not many people seem to know when the display first appeared or who put it there. And apparently no one has protested its location on a mountain range that serves as a backdrop to this predominantly Catholic city.
"The truth is that we are so accustomed to it that we never stop to think about it," says Karla Escalante, 18, a student at Ciudad Juarez Autonomous University.
But one man thinks about it all the time.
He is Gerardo Bermudez, an evangelical pastor whose idea it was to paint the phrase on the mountain.
Bermudez said he organized the project in 1987 after attending a meeting of ministers who wanted to do something to show the unity of evangelical Christians in Juarez.
At first, Bermudez sent two engineers up the mountain to paint the outlines of the letters. Then he gave the task of filling them in to hundreds of churchgoers.
They climbed the slippery, pebble-covered hillside and used paint brushes to spread a mixture of white powder and water onto the rocks and boulders. Some days, just a couple of people worked on the project; on one day more than 1,000 people ascended the slope.
It took three months to complete the imposing message. Above the phrase, they painted the words "CD Juarez," the abbreviation for Ciudad Juarez.
The letters have needed touching up over the years, when wind has knocked down some of the painted rocks or the color has faded. Bermudez's troops eventually switched from the powder mixture to vinyl paint, and then to a longer-lasting combination of powder, cement and salt. This October, they'll climb the mountain once more to repaint the words for the first time in three years.
Bermudez, 69, still climbs with them.
He says he has accomplished what he set out to do get more people to read the Bible and bring them closer to God.
"We are completely convinced that the remedy for humanity is to know God by means of the Bible," the pastor says.
Bermudez never asked the city for permission to paint on the mountainside, and no one ever demanded he get a permit.
Juarez city spokesman Javier de Anda Martinez says he can't recall any objections to the display.
"We respect freedom of expression," de Anda says. "We don't see anything wrong with that message, and I think it can be a positive one."
Jose Rios Galarza, editor of the newspaper of the Catholic Church of Juarez, says the display promotes respect and understanding among churches "because the word of God is a word that calls for unity."
The painting, he said, "is a form of expression of some Christian churches to call attention to what is fundamental for all of those who consider themselves Christians of any denomination."
Juarez residents have gotten so used to the message, they use it as a reference point. And they have dubbed the mountain, "The Bible Mountain."
Some people on the U.S. side of the border note that such a display would never be allowed on the U.S. side of the border.
"If it went up over here, there probably would be a big uproar from all kinds of different groups," El Paso accountant David Marcus says. "But it's in Juarez. ... I've never heard of people complaining, or even saying that we should complain, about things going on in Juarez."
Juarez is a very dangerous city, both to live in as a resident and to visit as a tourist. It's frankly not worth the hassle at the International Bridge from the DEA and USBP to cross over. There is a drug war on over there, after all, so US interdiction agencies are EXTREMELY vigilant here. So Blasterz are going to accept ANY photo of the letters from El Paso as proof of visit.
The parking coordinates posted below are for the corner of Main and Fewell Streets, along the westbound I-10 frontage road west of downtown El Paso.